Regular Customer
by everlovingdeer
Summary: The silences between the pair of us lengthened until I chose to break it, casting a quick glance his way. "Is there any particular reason you snuck out of school? Something bothering you Potter?" "I just missed you," he confessed after a long moment with a shrug. As if that was a reasonable answer!
1. Regular Customer

Running a sweet shop in the middle of Diagon Alley meant that you were always the favourite of the little children who dragged their parents into the store. But often you often found that the parents of said children grew to dislike you after they struggled to pull their children out of the shop. Business always seemed to spike before the school term began whenever families would venture out of their homes to shop for the new school year. The shop, without fail, would be packed during the weeks leading up to September.

Even now, as I stood tending to the customer at the front of the ever-growing queue, I couldn't help but let my eyes do a quick sweep of the store to take stock of what would need to be refilled. Bagging the sweets and totalling up the price, I looked curiously towards my assistant who squeezed past me and into the storeroom at the back. She looked more than a little stressed.

"I need to restock some shelves," she explained, cheeks flushed because of how busy she had been from the moment the shop opened for the day.

"If you need some more of the hazelnut chocolates, they're right at the back," I called out from over my shoulder, spying the display stand that was almost completely empty. "They're boxed and in the corner, next to the toffees."

"I got it!" she called back, voice muffled and reassured that she'd heard me, I could turn my attention back to the customer.

With a smile, I accepted the money from the customer and bid them a good day. Popping the register open, I put the coins into the right sections. Closing the register with a push of my hips, I looked up at the next customer in the line. The sight of him was almost enough to have me rolling my eyes. But I didn't. Maintaining a polite expression, I began to total up the sweets that the black-haired wizard placed on the counter.

"How have you been?" he asked, tucking his hands into his robe pockets. I watched him long enough to see that he shuffled a little nervously on his feet before continuing to ring the items up. I didn't want him to think he held any of my attention.

"Fine," I answered shortly.

I studied Potter from under my eyelashes and saw the way he frowned at my abrupt tone; he should have been used to it by now. Clearing his throat, he leaned a little towards the counter as he spoke to fill the silence, to try and get me to pay attention to him. "I got made Head Boy."

The statement, one so bloody ridiculous that it sounded like a downright lie, made me look towards him. There was no way that Dumbledore had gone loopy enough to make _Potter_ Head Boy. He cracked a smile at the way my eyes widened and I was quick to avert my eyes again.

" _See_ ," he prompted, unwilling to let this one-sided conversation come to an end. "I _can_ be mature. You can't use that as an excuse to keep rebuffing me anymore. If Dumbledore is willing to trust me with the responsibility of being Head Boy, then surely that's more than enough proof of how mature I am –"

"That doesn't change a thing Potter," I cut him off with a sigh. He opened his mouth to protest instantly and I shook my head, not letting him speak. "You're still way too young for me."

"I'm of age," he refuted with a frown. "An adult in the eyes of the Ministry."

"Just because you're of age doesn't make it moral." Scowling at my words, Potter glanced at his shoes for a moment. "You're just a schoolboy and me, well I'm 21."

"I'm 18 in March." Seeing that I wasn't swayed, he added hurriedly, "I'll be done with Hogwarts by the end of June."

"And by that point, I'll be 22." Shaking my head, I gave a pointed look to the customer that had to wait too long behind him. The elderly wizard did not look impressed. "Look, I have customers that I need to see to so hurry up and pay."

Muttering under his breath, Potter reluctantly reached into his pocket for his money. Counting the coins out in his palm, he handed the money over and I knew that I wouldn't need to check the total too. Opening the register, I put the change in and slammed it shut again. Looking back to Potter, I firmly held his eyes and waited for him to leave. I knew he would leave eventually, once he'd realised that I wasn't going to speak another word to him.

Sure enough, he sighed and grabbed his bag of sweets from the counter. Giving me one last look, he turned on his heels and made his way through the shop, dodging through some of my other customers. Looking away from him, I turned towards my next customer with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry about the wait."

* * *

Turning the sign on the door to read CLOSED, I withdrew my wand from the holster strapped around my waist and summoned the clipboard on the counter. It flew easily into my arms and I made my way slowly through the shop, checking all of the shelves and making a note of the products that we needed more of. Finally reaching the back of the shop, I headed into the storeroom and levitated, one by one, the boxes of sweets that had to be restocked.

Putting the clipboard down on the counter, I levitated the boxes to follow after me as I slowly made my way around the shop and refilled any empty spaces in the shelves. The sound of the bell at the door took me by surprise; everyone would take one look at the sign and realise not to come in.

"I'm sorry but we're not open," I started slowly, venturing out from between the shelves. But, the moment my eyes settled onto the boy – because this was _not_ the actions of a man – they narrowed. " _Potter_!"

The boy, who had been scanning the shop, no doubt in search of me, straightened up at the sound of my voice. "Cruz!"

"What in Merlin's name are you doing here?" I demanded harshly, making him falter in his step towards me. "How did you get here? You're supposed to be at Hogwarts!"

"I snuck out," he said quietly, and I shook my head incredulously. The way he said it as if it wasn't a feat to get from Hogwarts – in _Scotland_ – to Diagon Alley, was so mindboggling. Part of me wanted to know how the seventh year had managed it. But, a greater part of me wanted to get him back to the school before anyone realised that he was missing.

"You snuck out from your boarding school in Scotland and got to Diagon Alley?" I struggled not to take up my former mantle of Head Girl and give him a good talking to. This was just _too much_. "Is this what being mature means to you?" Even as Potter's face fell, I turned to head back to my work. "Go back."

I didn't bother to listen out for the sound of the door opening again; he was smart enough to know when he wasn't wanted. Instead I headed into the backroom where some of the chocolates had finished hardening in their mould. Rolling my sleeves and putting on a pair of gloves, I set about slowly pushing the chocolates out of the moulds and onto a tray that I had filled with coconut flakes. Once I had emptied all of the chocolates, I set the mould aside only to realise that Potter had trailed after me. Of course, it was my fault for thinking that he would listen to me the first time. He never had.

Deciding that silence was the best way to handle the situation, I rolled the chocolates into the coconut flakes. When they were fully coated, I wrapped each one up individually and set them aside. I reached for the next mould when another hand beat me to it. Looking towards Potter, I arched an eyebrow, realising that he'd put a pair of gloves on as well. Without another word, he began to help me. I watched over him long enough to make sure that he knew what he was doing before continuing to wrap the chocolates up and then dividing them into groups of 10.

The silences between the pair of us lengthened until I chose to break it, casting a quick glance his way. "Is there any particular reason you snuck out of school? Something bothering you Potter?"

"I just missed you," he confessed after a long moment with a shrug. As if that was a reasonable answer!

Swallowing down my cutting retort, I sighed and headed off in search of the boxes. By the time I returned, I found Potter moving onto the next batch and leaving me to wrap the chocolates up. Once we had finished with all the chocolates, I put the groups of 10 in a different box each and tied a bow over it.

Stacking the boxes on top of each other, I looked towards Potter who popped one of the spare chocolates into his mouth. Feeling the weight of my eyes on him, he straightened up from where he had been slouching against the counter. Adjusting the stack of boxes in my arms, I demanded, "Get back to Hogwarts. _Now_."

"I don't want to," he protested, taking the boxes from me and gesturing for me to lead the way. He even threw in a charming smile to try to convince me.

Tutting under my breath, I grabbed another stack of boxes and walked into the storefront. Potter followed shortly behind me. "Remind me again, why you're doing this?"

Placing the boxes onto the display shelf beside the till, Potter shot me a glance, "You know _exactly_ why I'm doing this."

Holding his gaze for a long moment, I wondered just what the best approach would be to this ridiculous situation. He wouldn't take my threats seriously - he never had. Rowena, he even chose to interpret my silence as consent to his presence and reasoning with him didn't work either. As the silence lengthened between us, I waited until he had finished stacking the shelves. "Go back to school Potter, before I have to owl McGonagall about your little adventure."

Only then did he take my threat seriously.

* * *

If I knew of the exact moment in time where Potter's fixation on me had begun, then I would have gone back in time to undo the bloody thing. Without a shadow of doubt. But to get to the root cause of it all, I'd need to actually _know_ what caused it all.

Then again, I could remember the moment where I had given him some motivation that I would later come to regret. Rowena, how was I supposed to know that he would take words that were meant to be a teasing remark only and think of them as a serious promise? Really, who had a crush that lasted a ridiculous number of years? Surely, since I had left Hogwarts, some other girl had caught his eye? Wasn't that natural? Not for Potter, it seemed. Merlin, what sort of person made it from the beginning of the shit storm of puberty to the end of it with a crush on the same person?

 _Perhaps one of the downsides to being Head Girl was that, without fail, you wound up having to cover the later night patrols. Now I had no problem patrolling in the night, I knew that there was nothing that would attack me. The Head Boy and I had even developed a system where we would both split our patrols in half, so the patrol would only take half the amount of time. It wasn't often that I stumbled across a student out and about after curfew, but it did happen._

 _And sure enough, as I turned into a corridor my eyes instantly settled on the dark-haired Gryffindor who was peeking out of an unused classroom. Narrowing my eyes, I frowned when the Gryffindor froze for a few seconds at the sight of me before he was darting back into the classroom. With quick steps, I hurried towards the classroom and got there in time to see that he was busy tidying something away. I never got to see **what** the younger boy was hiding away, but when he looked back at me, I finally realised who the student was. _

_"Potter," I said with an exasperated sigh, shaking my head when the third year simply smiled innocently at me. He went as far as to bat his eyes at me. Taking a step towards him, I raised an eyebrow when he picked up his bag which was hiding the papers that he'd been working on. "What do you think you're doing out so late after curfew?"_

 _"Sleepwalking." He scowled instnatly, realising that he had given me a stupid answer._

 _"Sleepwalking?" I repeated dubiously, trying my best not to laugh. It certainly didn't help that it looked like Potter was mentally berating himself. " **Really**?"_

 _He shook his head eventually with a sigh. Adjusting his hold on his bag, he asked, "So, what are **you** doing here then?"_

 _"My patrol." I pointed to my badge as if to remind him that I was Head Girl. Potter nodded, glancing around the room as if hoping that I would let him pass. Clearing my throat to gain his attention, I pointed towards the door. "Get moving Potter. I'm going to have to walk you to your common room or else you'll just get up to more mischief."_

 _"You don't need to," he tried to convince me._

 _Scoffing, I shook my head and pointed insistently towards the door. When he realised that I wasn't going to budge, he sighed and began to walk sluggishly out of the room. He dragged his feet a little as he walked and I did another final scan of the room. Finding nothing amiss, I followed after Potter to walk him back. He had **definitely** been up to something, but what could I do when there was no evidence available?_

 _We only walked a short distance in relative silence before Potter peeked at me from over his shoulder. Finding me still walking a few paces behind him, hestopped walking just until I fell into place beside him. And then the boy was walking next to me, looking at his feet for a moment so he could match his paces with mine. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his robes, glancing towards me after every few steps. It was blatantly obvious that he wanted to say something to me, and yet he didn't say a word._

 _He only spoke when we reached the bottom of the stairs leading towards the entrance of the Gryffindor common room. "You know, your boyfriend doesn't deserve you."_

 _The unexpected words had me smiling. I glanced towards Potter who ducked his head a little as we scaled the stairs. His red tinged cheeks and ears were just beckoning a teasing, but I didn't. Instead, I assured him, "I know. That's why I broke up with him."_

 _Potter looked up at me suddenly with a grin that threatened to split his face in half. With an incredulous laugh, I shook my head and reached out to ruffle his already messy hair._

 _"There's really no need for you to look so happy about that, Potter."_

 _He shrugged, doing absolutely nothing to stop himself from smiling. "Why did you break up with him?"_

 _"I thought he didn't suit me," I said simply as we finally reached the top of the stairs and now stood in front of the Fat Lady._

 _I expected Potter to head inside quickly but I didn't expect him to turn towards me with a mischievous smirk that was out of place on his young face. "If he didn't suit you, then what about me?"_

 _It was my turn to look at him incredulously. I wanted to laugh, but knowing that would hurt his fragile ego, I just looked over the boy. He was tall for his age, standing taller than the majority of the third years but he still only came up to my shoulders. He watched me expectantly as I lifted a hand to hover a few inches above my head._

 _"Tell you what, when you're **this** much taller than me, come back to me and ask me again."_

 _Potter eyed my hand and silently nodding, accepting the challenge. Even still, he asked dubiously, "Really?"_

 _I nodded instantly, knowing that there was no way he would. No crush carried on for so long. Especially not one you had on someone in third year._

 _"I guess I'll just have to appeal to you until then," he said resolutely. "So that way you won't say no."_

 _"Alright, alright Potter." I nudged him towards the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Hurry up and go inside."_

True to his words, when he _did_ grow those inches taller than me, he asked again – only a year later. By that point, I was out of Hogwarts and he was only 15. It was _so wrong._ Potter continued to grow until he now stood a good head and a half taller, but he was still just a boy.

* * *

With Hogwarts closed for the first holiday of the academic year, business was picking up speed again and it always got so busy during the school holidays that I usually had to hire another few workers for the holiday. More often than not, I wound up hiring students who wanted to make a little extra cash during the holidays and just yesterday I had hired two new shop girls who were certainly being put through the ringer with the number of customers that were currently in the shop. I was stuck behind the register, unable to help the girls who seemed to be constantly walking in and out of the storeroom to restock the empty shelves.

Turning towards the man at the front of the queue, I smiled welcomingly at the elderly wizard. He returned my smile with one of his own and started talking as I rang up the products.

"I had to pop in," he explained as I started to gift wrap some of the chocolate boxes for him. "My son's favourite chocolates are from here. He thinks your chocolates are magical."

"Well I'm flattered he thinks so," I said with a slight laugh, wondering whether the pun had been intentional. From the slight smirk on his face, it had been.

"But I had to get a box or a dozen for myself," he admitted with a gentle chuckle. "I think my son gets my sweet tooth from me. If my wife finds out that I've bought so much then she'll give me a good telling off. I guess I'll just have to eat them all before she sees them."

"Well," I said slowly, tying a bow onto one of the gift-wrapped boxes, "some healers claim that a piece of chocolate a day is good for you."

"Well what's the difference between a piece and a box?" he shrugged, watching as I rung up the total. He turned suddenly, glancing over his shoulder and when I glanced curiously towards him, he explained, "I can hear my son's voice."

Briefly I wondered just how loud his son must have been for his voice to stand out amongst the hubbub of my customers. I couldn't help but look across the crowd in search of his son and only caught myself when I remembered that I didn't even know the name of the customer so how would I know his son? Glancing back at the register, I began to ring up the prices, looking at the large amount of chocolate that the man had decided to purchase.

"Dad!" the son must have called, finally managing to spy his father. "Mum only turned around for one second and then you were gone."

"Where is your mother?"

"I got her to sit down at the ice cream parlour with Sirius," the son explained and I let my curiosity get the better of me. Lifting my eyes towards the son, my eyes widened when I found myself looking between Potter and his father.

Now that I looked between the pair of them, I could see the resemblance but at first glance, I would not have pegged the elderly wizard as being Potter's father. A relative definitely, but not his father. If this was Potter's father that made him _Fleamont_ Potter. Sensing my eyes lingering on his father, Potter finally turned his eyes towards me and introduced us.

"Merlin," I said with a slightly breathless laugh. "Now that I know who you are, I'm willing to give you all the chocolate for free." When Mr Potter raised his eyebrows with a light, I explained, "I use your potion religiously in the morning to calm the mess that is my hair."

"It's nice to meet a fan," he said with a chuckle before gesturing towards his son, "It's just a shame that my son doesn't seem to share your appreciation of my work."

"Well," I shot a contemplative glance towards Potter who ran a self-conscious hand through his hair, "his hair has been a mess for as long as I've known him. I think it kind of suits him."

Potter's spine straightened slightly, looking towards me as if he didn't believe that I had just said that. Averting my eyes from Potter, I turned towards his father who was insistent on paying. And then, once he easily levitated all the bags into his arms, he patted his son on his shoulder.

"Why don't you stay here? I'm going to find your mother and Sirius."

Before Potter could protest his father's words, not that it looked like he would, his father was walking away. Left with Potter looking expectantly at me, I turned to the line of customers who were waiting impatiently. Biting my bottom lip, I instantly regretted what I was going to say.

"Potter." He watched me cautiously, waiting to see what I was going to say. "Hop behind the counter because you're holding up my line."

Although he looked like he didn't believe my words, he didn't give me a chance to second guess them. Jumping behind the counter, Potter stood quietly behind me as I got to work and continued to work through the customers in the now huge line at the till.

"How was your term?" I asked eventually, feeling his eyes boring holes into my back. "You didn't run away again during the term?"

"No," he said after a moment, "I didn't leave campus again. I knew that if I turned up, here again, you wouldn't tolerate it and would tell McGonagall straight away."

"You should keep that in mind," I said and after a long moment, I sneaked a glance at him. Potter stood behind me, towering above me and reminding me of just how much _bigger_ he was now. It was a little tough to remind myself that he was, still just a boy. Clearing my throat, I asked quietly, "Any girls catch your eye?"

"There's only ever been one girl for me," he said so adamantly that I sighed.

Glancing back at him with raised eyebrows, I asked, "Do you not think that this has gone on for long enough?"

He shook his head again, refusing to hear another word on it. "Listen, I need to get back to my parents. But I'll be back tomorrow."

Before I could protest, Potter lifted a brown paper bag that I hadn't noticed he'd been holding. Setting it onto the counter, he jumped back onto the other side. He gestured for me to take it and when I hesitated, he sighed.

"There's no way you'll be able to get out of here for lunch," he explained, tucking his hands into his pockets with a shrug. "So, I brought lunch to you."

He turned away before I could say another word. I watched his back as he walked through the crowd, easily visible as he left the store. Glancing cautiously back towards the brown paper bag, I sneaked a quick peek inside only to turn away when the customer at the front of the queue cleared their throat.

I continued to serve the customers and when the line died down a little, I turned towards the pair of shop girls who approached me. They announced that they were going to go for lunch and switched the sign to closed so that I could do the same. Glancing contemplatively between the lunch Potter had bought me and the shop girls, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to try. The worst he could do was refuse.

* * *

The next day, when Potter arrived at the shop, I wasn't surprised by the sight of him. Merlin, I'd been expecting him. So, when he quietly walked up to my side to help me as I stacked the shelves, I did nothing but greet him with a look. He watched me a little apprehensively as he studied my reaction but seeing that I wasn't telling him to get lost he simply stood beside me as he stacked the shelves that I couldn't reach.

Once I was done working on the lower shelves, I crouched down beside the cardboard box that was full of the sweet boxes. Picking a stack of the boxes up, I rose to my feet and held them expectantly towards Potter.

He hesitated when reaching for the one at the top. Meeting my eyes, he explained, "I told you that I'd be coming to see you."

"I remember," I assured him with a small smile.

With a small nod, he let himself begin to relax as he continued to restock the top shelf. I continued to watch Potter as he worked, and he would throw glances towards me every few moments. Rather unusually I let him continue to sneak peeks until finally catching his gaze. Holding it for a long moment, I raised an eyebrow when he cleared his throat.

"I was wondering if, once you're finished, we could maybe go and get something to eat?" The way he asked, more hesitant than any of his other offers had ever been, endeared me to him quite a bit more than he would realise. More than I would ever dare admit. "If you want to?"

"That sounds like a good idea," I said with a slight smile, laughing when his eyes widened with his obvious surprise. Not even in his wildest dreams would he have expected to get such quick agreement from me. Potter was quick to catch himself, clearing his throat and running a hand through his hair as his face adopted a self-assured mask. "Do you know the little café on the corner of the street?"

"I know the place," he assured me, still acting as if my easy acceptance hadn't thrown him when it so easily had.

"Well, then I'll meet you there in half an hour?" When Potter made no move to leave, I prompted, "Why don't you go first and grab us a table? It can get quite packed during lunchtime and I don't really want to wait."

Potter, no doubt not wanting to risk me changing my mind, was quick to agree. As soon as he was done helping me, he was promising to meet me soon for lunch. My eyes trailed after him as he walked out of the shop and I briefly wondered whether or not I was doing the right thing. Dismissing the thought in the very next instant, I prepared to close the shop for lunch.

Once I finally met Potter for lunch, I walked into the café and looked around for him. Finding Potter sitting at the table beside the window, I went to walk inside before remembering and glancing over my shoulder. My shop girl stepped in curiously after me and smiled reassuringly when I asked if she was nervous. Merlin, why did it feel like I was the one that was nervous?

It was simply too late to change my mind now. Steeling myself, I walked towards Potter with my shop girl following closely behind me. Potter had yet to see me and was bouncing his legs up and down with obvious nerves and I swore that he was peeking at his reflection through the window and adjusted his hair. He thought this was a date. Catching sight of my image in the glass, Potter rose to his feet to greet me.

"You came," he said with so much surprise that it was almost insulting. _Almost._ But then I remembered what I was planning to do.

"I told you I would," I said with a roll of my eyes and when Potter came around the table to pull out a chair for me, I gestured for my shop girl to take the seat. He faltered at the sight of her, turning swiftly towards me and I couldn't meet his eyes. "Potter, this is Stefanie. She's moved here lately and works with me."

"I graduated last year," Stefanie piped up with an easy laugh, filling in the silence as I pulled out my own chair to sit down. Potter had yet to be seated and continued to watch me with wounded eyes. "I've been doing on and off work for a while until I'm ready to start looking for work in the Ministry."

"That sounds interesting," Potter said as he sat down across from me. He sounded like it was the least interesting thing he'd ever heard. I could feel his eyes boring into me as I refused to raise my eyes to meet his. It might have been a cowardly thing to do, but that was alright with me.

Stefanie took the chance to excuse herself, claiming she needed to use the toilet and unknowingly left me alone to be the victim of Potter's anger. Rowena, I was _not_ ready for that. I expected him to speak straight away, but the silence lengthened far longer and with it, my anxiety started to increase. Forcing myself to meet his gaze, I almost lowered it right away when I caught sight of his expression.

"What are you doing?" he asked then, his voice so choked that it was like he was struggling to get the words out.

"Stefanie's new in town," I said, the rehearsed line sounding like a feeble excuse. "I didn't want her to be alone and besides, whenever you come to the shop she always makes sure to comment on how handsome you are. You're a good-looking boy and she's a pretty girl –"

"Enough," he demanded, voice tight. "Stop talking."

For the rest of the meal, Potter remained silent. Even when Stefanie returned to the table. He didn't speak another word, not even when Stefanie and I both tried to engage him in a conversation. Once we had finished eating, Potter walked us back to the shop, trailing behind us. And then, when I had crossed the threshold of the shop, he disappeared down the street without another glance towards me again.

And no matter how badly I felt for the way that things had gone so differently to what I had planned, what I saw next made me feel much worse. There was an owl waiting for me, the one my parents always used when they were out on the front. With a shaking hand, I took the letter and prepared to read through what would likely be bad news. The black messenger owl always spelt bad news.

* * *

Potter returned to the shop the very next day and I swore that the moment he was through the door, the entire atmosphere condensed and grew heavy. I knew he would return; he wasn't the sort of person that could leave what happened yesterday alone. Potter had the sort of personality that had to do what he wanted to – and right now, judging from the looks he continued to throw me, he _really_ wanted to tell me off. Well, I wasn't going to let him do that.

When he arrived at the shop it was during the middle of the busiest time of day and he had the sense to wait for things to slow down. He approached the counter and just continued to stand behind it, waiting silently for me to address him. Which I only did when the shop was empty.

After the customers had all left the room, I crossed the shop floor to get to the door so I could switch the sign to closed. When I turned back to face Potter, he was standing with his arms crossed and leaning against the counter as if daring me to _try_ and ignore him any further. With a reluctant sigh, I steeled myself before turning back towards Potter. Crossing my own arms over my chest in defence against whatever he was going to say, I pressed my own back against the shop door. There was so much space between us and yet it felt like he was far too close.

"Your problem is that you overthink everything," Potter declared suddenly, eyes rooted to my figure as I remained standing. I certainly wasn't willing to close the space between us but it was a different matter for Potter who came around the counter so he could lean against the front of it. "Your problem is that you can't let anything just happen, Cruz. You just have to think and _think_ about everything."

"It's better than not thinking at all."

He narrowed his eyes at the barbed remark. "Maybe, but what you did yesterday was childish."

"Oh, _I'm_ childish," I scoffed with a shake of my head. Dealing with him was the last thing I wanted to be doing; I had more important things to be concerned about. "The entire way you've gone about trying to get me to date you is childish. Come back to me when you're an adult, Potter."

"You're so condescending," he protested, sounding more than a little outraged as he stalked towards me. But before he could reach out for me, I moved away and headed towards the front counter. "You seem to think of me like I'm still the bloody third year that you patted on the head and sent away. And because I'm not like that easy to ignore any more, you hate it even though you know that you don't want to ignore me. Merlin Cruz, _you're_ the one that needs to stop behaving like a child and _just be with me_ already."

When Potter looked expectantly towards me, I almost wanted to ask what answer he wanted from me because it was written all over his stance; he wasn't going to leave the shop until he got an answer that he wanted. A large part of me wanted to give him the answer that I knew he wanted. As my silence lengthened, he sighed.

"What more do you expect me to do?"

"I don't expect you to do anything," I said softly, shaking my head. "I want you to drop this childish obstinance and just go home and enjoy the rest of your holiday with your parents." Merlin, if I was in his position with his parents safe and not risking being captured by Voldemort's followers, I would spend every moment with them.

"Give me one good reason for your stubbornness." _My stubbornness!_

"Listen to me," I insisted, holding his gaze and hoping that he would finally, _finally_ understand. "I can't be in a relationship with anyone right now."

"Of course, you can!" he shot back instantly, clearly not understanding. He just couldn't understand any reasoning and couldn't think beyond what he himself thought. Merlin, I understood the way he was feeling, and the desperate wish to just get what he wanted but I just couldn't understand why he wouldn't just _listen_. "This is supposed to be something so simple – being with someone is easy. Nothing will have to change."

"The fact that you think that shows just how young you are," I murmured finally, shaking my head. Before he could protest, I cut in forcefully, "There is _too_ much going on in my life right now for me to be able to afford being distracted by you."

"But I'm not a distraction –"

"You _are_ a distraction. Merlin, everything about you is a distraction." Potter finally, for the first time fell silent and let me speak. "I might seem aloof and you would never realise it, but you are one big distraction and I can't have you distracting me right now. I need to focus on my pare - on the _shop_ and on a whole range of other things."

"Well, why can't you tell me?"

"Because I don't want to," I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in frustration. "That should be enough of a reason for you and if it isn't, then you really are more childish than you think. You think that just because you like me – you might even think you _love_ me and that because you've stuck around me for so long, I should be willing to share _everything_ with you. You think that even if I have a soft spot for you, that I need to date you. And that's not how adult relationships work."

Potter held my gaze for a long moment and I expected him to rebuff my words with his own. But he eventually sighed, dropping his head for a moment before asking, voice partially broken and partially resigned, "So what is an adult relationship like?"

"In an adult relationship, you need to wait until the other person is ready. You don't push and push and hope that they get ready quicker." Swallowing thickly, I made sure that when I spoke next, he understood _exactly_ what I was saying, "Come back to me when you can function in an adult relationship."


	2. Epilogue: 4 Years Later

_4 YEARS LATER_

The war brought so many consequences for so many people; I was amongst them. It had left me all alone in the world, rendering me as the only person left in my family. My parents, people that had been on the front line on the fight against Voldemort had paid for their defiance with their lives and I had been left to organise the funeral of the people who raised me. I was touched that so many people had turned out for the service to commemorate the lives they'd lived and the sacrifice they'd made.

As the service ended and I remained standing to receive words of comfort from those that had attended, I could only nod and thank them for coming. Looking across the guests that had attended, my eyes briefly met a pair of haunting eyes that I hadn't seen in months and the grief reflected in them was enough to have my eyes watering. Of all people, he knew what it felt like to lose both of your parents in one fell sweep. Rowena, I'd missed him.

Needing a bit of a break, I blinked back the tears and headed out of the room for a bit of fresh air. A call of my name almost had me pausing but I continued anyway, knowing that he would be following after me. Potter's persistence had eased up a little over the duration of the war and it entire months would pass before I saw him again. It was only with his absence that I truly began to miss him and Merlin, I craved his silent presence more than anything.

Finally standing outside and feeling the wind on my face, I let myself turn to face Potter. He came to a still less than a metre away from me and tucked his hands into his pockets, watching me closely. I could do nothing more than hold his gaze; Merlin, I'd missed the particular shade of hazel of his eyes. Warm and ... and they looked like home.

"I'm so sorry," he said eventually, not knowing what else to say.

"Why are you sorry? It's not like you were involved." I bit my bottom lip hesitantly, wanting to apologise for my snark. It was the silent retort I'd been holding back all day.

"I didn't like people apologising to me either," he said, assuring me that he understood the way I was feeling. And just knowing that he was compassionate comforted me greatly, as if what I was feeling was valid. "If I had known that this was what had been going on in your life, then I wouldn't have pushed you so much."

"That was years ago," I assured him, wrapping my arms around my middle as he continued to walk towards me with slow hesitant steps. "It was such a long time ago."

"I know it was, but I just remember how I kept pushing and pushing you." He shrugged a little helplessly. "So, I can apologise for that at least."

I watched Potter for a long moment, taking in the way he had changed over the years. He certainly wasn't that 17-year-old schoolboy any more. And so, I just nodded, and he smiled. I tried to smile back but the moment he turned reluctantly to head back inside, I was calling out to him. I didn't want him to go yet.

"James." He stopped straight away as if he had been waiting for the call. Moving to face me, James met my gaze expectantly and I was hesitant to admit, "I really don't want to be alone, right now."

"Then I guess it's a good thing that I don't want to leave you alone either." And just like that, we were sharing a smile as James drew closer towards me.

When he came to my side and wrapped an arm around me, I had no complaints. Instead, I drew closer to him and into his embrace. James hesitated for nothing more than a second before wrapping both arms around me and just letting me hide inside the circle of his arms. Tucking my face against his chest, I breathed the soothing smell of him in deeply when he propped his chin on top of my head.

I drew away from him for a moment so I could look up into his face, "I never thought that I'd take silent strength from you."

"Neither did I," he admitted right away, and I moved closer towards him again. When James tightened his arms around me, I breathed out against his shoulder. "I might even think that you're attracted to me, Cruz."

"And if I was?"

Silence met my declaration and I found myself holding my breath until he responded next. There was a sigh that brushed the top of my head before he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"You're grief stricken right now," he started quietly. "You're so emotionally vulnerable, today especially and I won't take advantage of you. No matter how long I've been waiting for this. Tell me again when you're able to think normally and then I'll let myself consider it the truth."

"When did you grow up so much?" I murmured quietly.

"You told me to," he reminded, making me pull back slightly.

Looking seriously up into his face, I studied his handsome features but he continued to meet my gaze. When I continued to watch him, James raised an eyebrow silently in question. Even when I shook my head to assure him that I was alright, he didn't stop watching me. Rising to my toes, I pressed a small kiss to his cheek and for all his talk of not wanting to believe that I meant my words given my current emotional state, he still flushed harshly.

Returning my heels firmly onto the ground, I went back into his arms with a smile. I couldn't help but murmur, "If my life hadn't been so hectic behind the scenes then I probably would have taken your offer up the moment you turned 18."

"Well give it a few weeks until you're less vulnerable and tell me again," he murmured, tightening his arms around me again for a brief moment. "And when you do, then we have all the time in the world."

I couldn't help but ask with a sniffle, "Did you stop grieving after a few weeks? Is that how little time it takes to forget?"

"No," he admitted. "But that's why you have me to help you."


End file.
